the eatery's menu is filled with basic homestyle japanese food (other than the sushi) at ridiculous prices. other people may not notice, but there is a reason why there are no japanese people in this restaurant (other than my family on that particular night), the food is terrible on japanese standards.

after looking through the menu and realizing how unoriginal the food was, we ordered the age dashi donburi, vegetable gyoza, karaage, and prawn okonomiyaki.

first came the donburi which was terrible and tasteless. the 'sweet donburi sauce' was basically tenmusu (tempura sauce) without the ginger and daikon, the vegetables were steamed, and the age was soft, not crunchy. next was the gyoza which we thought no one could do wrong, we were mistaken. i doubt they were freshly made, they looked like our leftovers microwaved the next day, not crispy at all, and had barely any filling. the karaage was decent, but the salad was romaine with a caesar like dressing and parmesan cheese, very unjapanese. last was the 'okonomiyaki', osaka style. my mom (from osaka) was insulted. is was basically less than 10 pieces of prawn put on top of the batter, it felt like eating pancake. if anyone thinks this is what okonomiyaki is suppose to be, you will be blown away by real okonomiyaki. the sauce though, i will say, was excellent.

basically, coming from a japanese person, this was insulting to japanese food and japanese chefs. we did not order sushi but did see sushi someone ordered and it was definitely rolled too hard, the nori was bursting. perhaps the price is for the ambiance, which i didn't appreciate anyways. 'miso horny'? and the pictures by the washrooms. personally, i was not blown away by the tacky atmosphere. even if i were impressed, it would not be enough to make up for the food.

Went there on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It was busy, but not packed. It looked like only two servers were working...so extremely slow service. The menu was both amazing and overwhelming. We ordered some special rolls and a butter chicken rice. The rolls were nothing special - there are many sushi restaurant executing better special rolls at less expensive prices. Overall, food was okay, but not necessary good value.

I go there on average 2 to 3 times a month, and only b/c of the food. Not only is it discouraging to wait for 30min+ w/o being seated on time as per suggested by hostess, the wait for service is even longer.

On Sunday, I actually waited for close to 30min for my food, and they never mentioned that refills cost money, until after the bill arrived of course. While the food didn't come out, we were inevitably thirsty, so sneaky indeed!

I have pratically tried everything on the menu, with captain crunch being my absolute favorite (and I am a health/calorie freak too!). I tried their recent new creations, and was blown away. I am still reminiscing on the taste, which is super successful on the chef's part. The rolls were the Electric Banada (the banada melts on top of the sushi roll), and spinch roll (which comes adorned by peanut sauce, so thoughtful!).

They were actually playing music at an appropiate level on Sunday, as they usually pump it to the ears blast. When I go to the Eatery, I tend to want to eat; if I had wanted to dance and party, would have gone downtown! Sunday's music was actually so good, featuring schol 90s old school hits, bringing back memories.

However, the food came so late that I actually asked for the bill as soon as the food arrived. I never got a quality check, and definitely no interaction between the server and my table..thus 1 for service.

All in all, somehow the food is good enough to get me hooked and keep going back, despite everything else. For that, I applaud you Eatery!

My first time at this eclectic place and I was impressed with the food and ambiance. We ordered multiple sushi rolls and all of it melted in our mouths. The lighting of this place was very dim and decorated with glow-in-the-dark pieces. This is the ideal place for a University student (it's so near-by) that wants something a little bit more than a budget meal.

If you want a laid back atmosphere and something different than your usual sushi joint, check this out!

It's funny, but I have seen many negative reviews on this site just disappear in a puff of smoke (influence of the restaurant owners, no doubt) - let's see if this one, which is simply fair and factual, survives: I have been at the Eatery a few times over the years, and I was just back there on Friday night after a long absence. It seems that the Eatery I knew (fairly dependable, nothing interesting or great in any way, just straight-up McDonald's of sushi - but there is of course a time and place for that) is long gone. It is now pretending to be a nightclub, and caters to the party crowd and, very obviously, underage drinkers (I remember fifteen years ago having a few spots where my friends and I could go and drink in the first year of University, this is obviously one of the current spots). The food can only be labeled under the tired genre of "fusion" - something chefs do when they have a hard time with quality. A long, rambling menu still exists, but the food is tired and very poor if you actually have an idea as to what Japanese food is supposed to taste like - and quite honestly, the atmosphere is difficult to deal with. The thumping music is so loud, it's hard to have any form of conversation - even with the serving staff. It is grungy and dark, and, as I said, more of a nightclub now - and the food, service and attitude show it. What a shame. The Eatery now serves a very specific niche: eighteen to twenty, drunk or gettnig drunk, not caring about food quality, and out for a nightclub experience with no cover charge. With this, I guess that food quality and atmosphere don't matter anymore. A shame, really, and we can only mourn what was lost.

went with a dining group. Loved the atmosphere of the place and the sushi i had was well prepared with fresh ingredients and well presented. Oh yes it tasted great too.
It was a busy place but the service was still good. i can see why it is always busy when i walk past.

I have to be honest, I am still torn about this place.
the first time I went, the services was very good and the food was amazing.

But this has varied since then.
from the poor service on some nights
to the not so great food the next night.
Each time I went back there, something would go wrong, It never matched up with our first visit.

If you don't mind waiting 30 minutes and sitting within whisper distance of the next table for good sushi, then The Eatery is your place. Restaurant was trendy, interesting, and had unique food. The service was entirely lacking; next time, we'll do take-out.

love the captain crunch roll! friendly staff, creative menu. The only thing i find lacking is the interior. Not sure if i'm just picky but the atmosphere could be improved. but overall, i still recommend this place. decent prices

Great ambience - great music. When I was there with a group of 7, they had superb trance & dance tunes spinning by LIVE DJ. No wonder it's so cutting edge and good! Reminds me of good tunes at Ibiza, Spain a month ago.

The vibe and energy of the place is amazing, it's out of this world. For energetic fun experience, this is the place to go. The bunch of us from Malaysia, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland totally loved this place, two thumbs up.

Our waitress was prompt, quick and chatty. She even told us where we can go to hang out and party. And the types of outdoor activities can do, good deals etc.

Food was definitely good and value. Coming over from Australia, this place definitely has a jump in taste. For that price, no complains!

There is also a lounge next to the restaurant to chill out. I'd say it's perfect for pre-party just to set you into the right mood.

I went here with my husband, and we tried their Funky Sushi, namely Viva Las Vegas, Erotica Roll, Salmon Crunch, and Mango Tuna. My personal fav among those 4 is Viva Las Vegas. I like the fact that they have this kind of fusion sushi, mixing the original style with cream cheese or mayonaise, etc. And the great selection of menu that they have.

I don't really like the ambiance, I'm not saying it's ugly or hideous, it's just not the ambience to eat sushi for me. But I highly appriciate their idea and their creativity to design the place (including their menu book,t-shirts,g-strings).

As for the price, it's a bit pricey if you choose the regular style sushi, I think Asakusa is better for the regular style sushi. But if you're looking for some new style, some fusion in the sushi...then I think it's ok to spend a bit more than usual.

Last but not least, we found the service as....so so... since there were only 2 people serving for all of the guess. So..they were kinda slow.

I've been to the Eatery a few times over the last few months, and last night's service was horrendous! I brought my friend with me to show her the place...and I was actually embarrassed! They were busy (as per usual) but I don't think that is an excuse. We were seated promptly and a server came to take our order. We ordered a couple of beers..but they were flat and warm. We waited over 10 minutes for our server to come back to take our dinner order. We waved down the host to see if that would speed up the process...it did not. We sent our beer back as obviously the kegs needed to be changed, and she gave us attitude!

Our food came ridiculously fast..and once we finished our last bite, the bill was delivered! We weren't even finished! (We were going to order another roll or two...)

Instead we left and went somewhere else to fill up! I've never seen service like that before!

I agree with krazer and have written my own review on this restaurant but it was deleted~ I felt I was being very fair so I have no idea why it was deleted~ connections? Generally I felt that the rolls were poorly made because most of them started falling apart when i pick them up (exept the one that was deep fried)~there were a wide variety of choices for rolls but I realized many of them were very similar~ difference were maybe wat was actually in the roll and wat was placed on top of it) the sashimi wasnt very fresh and was poorly presented (slopped on top of a leaf of lettuce...err) all the other dishes I ordered were quite average ~ and I found the "to die for" tuna tempura to be very bland and boring~ maybe i'm not a tuna person ( even tho i love toro sashimi the most? hmm) I guess its not food you would spit out but definitely not worth the price~

In terms of service~ it was ok~ not bad ~

ambience~ well the place was really dark~ and noisy~ it depends on what you're looking for~ it looks like a place i would go for a beer~I think the lighting helps make the food more edible~

I'm a picky eater so I'm definitely not impressed at all~ not authentic + expensive = not for me~ but if you weigh atmosphere over food quality than you might think differently

They've recently updated their menu and with the addition of some new items, prices on certain old favorites have gone up. Food portions have also shrank a little overall (noticeably, the delicious Tuna Tempura). I know because I used to come here regularly. The food is still remains excellent, but the service remains poor, with a few exceptions. Not really a family place, as the music is loud and the videos playing on the TVs can be racy. Overall, a great place for funky sushi, if you don't mind waiting in line Friday and Saturday nights and putting up with slow service.

Really, this is not a place to take your mother-in-law for your first meeting to say nice things about her son. This is where your friends take you so you can say terrible things about the both of them. Lovely servers, interesting presentation and a cozy "Oh-look-how-cool-I-must-be-to-eat-here" feeling.

This place is awesome. Those who don't recommend it are obviously not the restaurant's traget clients. This place is young, hip, non-traditional and DELICIOUS! It's not a family joint. If you love sushi and not just the regular boring type you will love it there. The menu is huge and the prices are very good. I would highly recommend The Eatery to anyone who loves trying new tasty food!

Yes, it's quite quirky and eclectic with its decor. However, after an hour wait, our table was off-balance and sticky. The menu is huge (good and bad). It seems to be just me, but it felt so dirty in the restaurant, even the air. The server was polite though, when I had found that my tuna sashimi turned out to be more like a frozen fish popsicle. Not so tasty. I would go back, however, if I was outvoted by a large group of people.

Ok, this place is NOT cheap as some of the other reviews have reported. It is average price paid for sushi in Vancouver. The quality of the food is pretty good, but the service is POOR. While the servers are likeable, the service to your table is sloooooooow. I once waited 5 minutes at the front entrance waiting to be seated without even so much as a hello. Unfortunately the food quality does warrant the occational return visit.

If you want sushi on the cheap, as well as other dishes such as great short ribs you have come to the right place. A student hang-out and for those that just want large portions, great prices, and great tasting food, this is the place. Ambience is pretty cool. Not a place to go for a quiet romantic dinner, but good for everything else.